GACC: China's 2023 steel exports hit 7-year high

During December alone, China's steel exports totalled 7.73 million tonnes, easing by 3.5% from November but soaring by 43.1% compared with December 2022 when global steel demand was under pressure from the pandemic, high inflation, and geopolitical conflicts.

The price advantages generally enjoyed by Chinese steel products in 2023 remained the major reason for the rise in accumulative exports over the 12 months, Mysteel Global noted.

As of December 29, for example, the export price of Chinese SS400 4.75mm hot-rolled coil (HRC) was assessed by Mysteel at $570/t FOB from North China's Tianjin port, lower by $35/t compared with Japan-origin offers posted the same day, according to Mysteel's survey.

Besides, the overall depreciation of China's Yuan against the US dollar last year strengthened the price advantages of Chinese steel products in the international steel market, sources said, as China's steel exporters could shave their US dollar-denominated offer prices and still earn Yuan profits.  

The annual average central parity rate of the Chinese currency against the dollar was Yuan 7.0467=$1 in 2023, compared with Yuan 6.7261=$1 in 2022, according to the latest data released on January 12 by China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

On the other hand, the relatively feeble domestic steel market also prompted Chinese steelmakers to seize export trading opportunities – especially when the mills were determined to keep their run-rates high, Mysteel Global learned.

During January-November last year, China's crude steel output totalled 952.1 million tonnes, higher by 1.5% from 2022, according to the latest release by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

But during the same period, there was no parallel improvement in the vitality of the largest domestic consumer of steel –  property development and construction. Indeed, during January-November, total funding in China's domestic property market declined by 9.4% on year to Yuan 10.4 trillion ($1.45 trillion). In parallel, the total area of China's newly-launched property projects during the 11 months also dropped by 21.2% on year to 874.56 million sq m, NBS data showed.

Meanwhile, during 2023, China imported 7.65 million tonnes of steel products in total, dropping by 27.6% on year, according to the GACC's data.

Written by Carly Chen, chenziyi@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com